5 Essential Copyright Resources for Artists
(Illustration by Michelle Kondrich)
Want to know more about copyright?
Most professional artists care deeply about protecting their work from unfair use, whether online or off. One shining example of this is the way the art community came together over the past couple of days to protest the latest incident of online art theft.
The problem is, most professional artists also have a limited knowledge of copyright law, including myself.
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about copyright law, or about what resources are available to you, check out the following 5 essential links to give you a head start:
Organization dedicated to providing resources and information related to copyright law.
Government organization that promotes creativity by administering and sustaining an effective national copyright system in the U.S.
3. R.I.G.H.T.S.
Online education regarding the redistribution of graphics and other copyrighted materials via the internet.
Audio series offering an overview of copyright law.
Links to articles and further resources related to copyright.
Know of a resource you’d like to add? Please share a link in the comments section.
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About Michelle Kondrich:
Michelle Kondrich is a New York based illustrator who just can’t get enough cross-hatching.
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Excellent list! I’d just like to add that if there are any specific questions anyone has, they can also call the US Copyright office. I have found the staff there to be very helpful, thorough and really nice.
Here’s a few key bits of copyright info…
Just in case anyone still believes this: Sending yourself a copy of your own work in the mail (poorman’s copyright) does not work and will not stand up in a court of law. Copyright is inherent upon creation of a piece, meaning as soon as you create it, you own it. You don’t have to note the copyright symbol with your name on a work anymore (although if you want to you still can). Registering the work officially officially documents your work and gives you much more power if infringed upon.
If anyone is concerned about the expense of registering, while published works are registered individually, you can register groups of unpublished works for the same ONE fee ($45 if mailed, $35 if done online through the copyright website). It is ideal to register works as early as possible to create a longer and stronger protection period.
Thanks for sharing those tips, Diana. I’m among those who thought for a long time that the “poorman’s copyright” you mentioned was legitimate, although I’ve never done it. It’s fortunate that ownership comes from creation, and hopefully that will always be the case.
Another good copyright resource is Myows (https://myows.com/), which is a free online copyright management and protection app for creatives.
Thanks for posting that link. A great resource indeed.
Creative Commons Licenses solve a lot of problems for many creative people. There are licenses you can use and place on your website to announce what you will and will not allow as far as use of your copyrighted materials.
You can go to their website here: http://creativecommons.org/
Hope this is helpful!
hello, I’m a freelancer in Canada, do these links apply to Canada as well?
Hi Emjay,
I believe that all the resources, with the exception of the US Copyright office, should provide you with information and further resources, but I’d love to know if anyone could recommend an international option.
Hi Thomas and others,
I’m Max, the designer behind Myows. You published a very useful resource and I just wanted to stop by to say that Myows was built to be legally-sound in 160+ countries.
We also recently published a blog post about the differences between a Myows certificate and one from the USCO.
If you enjoy the app, have question or suggestions for improvement, don’t hesitate to send them along… We want to make the process of protecting and managing your rights as simple as possible and have received very encouraging reviews since we launched 5 months ago.
Best regards
Max
Very great article, though the Copyright Alliance is a bit of a tainted source — they have been known to mis-state the facts and law in order to protect the interests of their stakeholders.
I’d also suggest the Electronic Frontier Foundation, available at http://www.eff.org as being a wonderful source.
I’m a copyright litigation attorney in the entertainment industry, and would be more than willing to answer some basic questions regarding copyright if your readers have any. Please visit my website, at http://www.danrosenthal.org for more information and contact links.
Thank you for this excellent list! I do have a question, however, where can I find a clear policy on derivative works?